Jokic to Portland

jowglenn · Post #1 » by **jowglenn** » Thu Aug 20, 2026 1:41 am

The writing's on the wall folks, time to get ahead of things. This could go down today or at the deadline, whatever.

Denver trades: Nikola Jokic

Portland trades: Donovan Clingan, Scoot Henderson, Robert Williams, Shaedon Sharpe, 2028 MIL 1st, 2028 ORL 1st, 2029 best of MIL/BOS/POR 1sts, 2030 MIL 1st, and some other picks and swaps where needed.

Why for Denver: Get a few solid young guys in Clingan and Scoot, plus a pile of 1sts, mostly MIL 1sts which rate to be decent over the next few years.

Why for Portland: Make a big move to jump into contention. Lillard/Morant/Avdija/Camara/Jokic lineup, with whatever bench they can cobble together.

Post #2 » by **Mr Swagtastic** » Thu Aug 20, 2026 1:46 am

Going to take more than that to get Jokic. Scoot is very underwhelming, Sharpe is decent but how much more of a ceiling is there for him? Clingan is a solid piece and the picks in theory look good on paper but this needs more IMHO

LarsV8 · Post #3 » by **LarsV8** » Thu Aug 20, 2026 1:52 am

Houston would offer
Sengun, Sheppard, Capela, 2027 BRK #1, 2027 Phx #1, 2029 Phx #1, 2029 Dal #1, and some swaps.

FVV/Amen/Durant/Jabari/Jokic

HornetJail · Post #4 » by **HornetJail** » Thu Aug 20, 2026 1:53 am

Narrator: "The writing was not on the walls"

Jokic has 5/360M waiting for him next summer, he's chillin

jowglenn · Post #5 » by **jowglenn** » Thu Aug 20, 2026 1:54 am

Mr Swagtastic wrote:Going to take more than that to get Jokic. Scoot is very underwhelming, Sharpe is decent but how much more of a ceiling is there for him? Clingan is a solid piece and the picks in theory look good on paper but this needs more IMHO

It only needs more if someone else offers more. If Jokic wants out and makes it clear that he's going to decline his player option and go elsewhere? Denver will have to take the best offer they get.

A year ago a lot of people would have laughed out loud at Giannis going for Tyler Herro, Kelel Ware, Jaime Jaquez, Kaspar Jakucionas and some picks. But it happened.

jowglenn · Post #6 » by **jowglenn** » Thu Aug 20, 2026 1:55 am

LarsV8 wrote:Houston would offer
Sengun, Sheppard, Capela, 2027 BRK #1, 2027 Phx #1, 2029 Phx #1, 2029 Dal #1, and some swaps.

FVV/Amen/Durant/Jabari/Jokic

Now that is a competitive offer... some nice picks in there!

Post #7 » by **Texas Chuck** » Thu Aug 20, 2026 1:55 am

This isn't my reaction to the Watson S&T but ymmv

Myth · Post #8 » by **Myth** » Thu Aug 20, 2026 2:28 am

Texas Chuck wrote:This isn't my reaction to the Watson S&T but ymmv

My reaction wasn’t “it is time” but I did immediately wonder if Nuggets will return to building around Jokic anytime soon. It feels like they have mostly just lost talent while having arguably the best player in the world.

As for the trade, as a Blazers fan I obviously love it. Willing to give even more.

Snakebites · Post #9 » by **Snakebites** » Thu Aug 20, 2026 2:40 am

Frankly even if I was accepting the premise of this thread that "the writing is on the wall" (which for the record I'm not), I'd still view this as an extremely underwhelming package from a team unlikely to be in the mix for Jokic.

Post #10 » by **Mr Swagtastic** » Thu Aug 20, 2026 4:00 am

jowglenn wrote:
Mr Swagtastic wrote:Going to take more than that to get Jokic. Scoot is very underwhelming, Sharpe is decent but how much more of a ceiling is there for him? Clingan is a solid piece and the picks in theory look good on paper but this needs more IMHO

It only needs more if someone else offers more. If Jokic wants out and makes it clear that he's going to decline his player option and go elsewhere? Denver will have to take the best offer they get.

A year ago a lot of people would have laughed out loud at Giannis going for Tyler Herro, Kelel Ware, Jaime Jaquez, Kaspar Jakucionas and some picks. But it happened.

Teams will beat this easily. Portland has a good team leftover but it ain't enough. Ja is a wildcard you don't know what your getting, Jrue and Dame are older and probably done in a few years. Camera and Deni are solid young pieces but I don't see them as a contender.

OKC could just go balls to the wall and offer picks, Williams or Chet plus to get it done.

JimmyPlopper · Post #11 » by **JimmyPlopper** » Thu Aug 20, 2026 4:12 am

Sixers have already offered Embiid, LeBron and Edgecombe for Jokic and the worst salary that Denver can think of

mademan · Post #12 » by **mademan** » Thu Aug 20, 2026 4:22 am

Jokic isnt getting traded before his extension. Guy is not turning down 350 million. He can get traded after if he wants out

JayMKE · Post #13 » by **JayMKE** » Thu Aug 20, 2026 6:14 am

If Jokic leaves Denver then he is more than likely trying to get to the Lakers or some other big market team, its not going to be an open market where he's sold off to highest bidder because it never is. He isn't going to be traded to a small market either, not Portland or OKC. Every package for Jokic will be underwhelming because you don't trade players of his caliber without their consent especially if its based on trying to convince them to sign an extension. LA, GS, Boston, NY, Miami, the usual suspects.

Post #14 » by **nate33** » Thu Aug 20, 2026 2:26 pm

JayMKE wrote:If Jokic leaves Denver then he is more than likely trying to get to the Lakers or some other big market team, its not going to be an open market where he's sold off to highest bidder because it never is. He isn't going to be traded to a small market either, not Portland or OKC. Every package for Jokic will be underwhelming because you don't trade players of his caliber without their consent especially if its based on trying to convince them to sign an extension. LA, GS, Boston, NY, Miami, the usual suspects.

I don't think Jokic would be angling for a big market team. Jokic doesn't seem to care about fame. I think his goal would be to get traded to a team that would still be in position to win a title even after giving up a motherlode of assets to Denver.

Most big market teams don't fit this criteria. A team like OKC, Houston, Utah or Washington might make more sense.

Post #15 » by **nate33** » Thu Aug 20, 2026 2:43 pm

mademan wrote:Jokic isnt getting traded before his extension. Guy is not turning down 350 million. He can get traded after if he wants out

Why wouldn't his new team offer the same maximum extension? It's not like they're going to trade a zillion assets for Jokic and then haggle over price during contract negotiations.

gswhoops · Post #16 » by **gswhoops** » Thu Aug 20, 2026 4:52 pm

nate33 wrote:
mademan wrote:Jokic isnt getting traded before his extension. Guy is not turning down 350 million. He can get traded after if he wants out

Why wouldn't his new team offer the same maximum extension? It's not like they're going to trade a zillion assets for Jokic and then haggle over price during contract negotiations.

Now that funneling extra money through sponsors is legal, does it even matter

JayMKE · Post #17 » by **JayMKE** » Thu Aug 20, 2026 10:59 pm

nate33 wrote:
JayMKE wrote:If Jokic leaves Denver then he is more than likely trying to get to the Lakers or some other big market team, its not going to be an open market where he's sold off to highest bidder because it never is. He isn't going to be traded to a small market either, not Portland or OKC. Every package for Jokic will be underwhelming because you don't trade players of his caliber without their consent especially if its based on trying to convince them to sign an extension. LA, GS, Boston, NY, Miami, the usual suspects.

I don't think Jokic would be angling for a big market team. Jokic doesn't seem to care about fame. I think his goal would be to get traded to a team that would still be in position to win a title even after giving up a motherlode of assets to Denver.

Most big market teams don't fit this criteria. A team like OKC, Houston, Utah or Washington might make more sense.

I’m not she’s buy it, I don’t think anybody in history has demanded a trade to these places. It’s not so much gonna be about it being a bigger market or as it is playing with Luka or Steph or maybe even Giannis. I don’t think he’s interested in leading a bunch of kids. For Denver’s sake I’m sure they would like to hope Jokic would accept being shipped off to Siberia metaphorically if they had the best trade package but we know how that works. It’s not just about what Jokic wants but also also family, friends, entourage, business partners.

Post #18 » by **Mr Swagtastic** » Fri Aug 21, 2026 4:49 am

Is Barnes, Graves, Poeltl and picks enough for Jokic, Nanji and Braun or whatever bad salary Denver wants to shed? I know it can be beat but I think it's in the better offers. Toronto has a Serbian community and Darko to help Jokic. Jokic, Kawhi, RJ, Quick and CMB is still a very competitive team. Bench is decent as well especially if they get DD to ring chase

Thaddy · Post #19 » by **Thaddy** » Sun Aug 23, 2026 11:37 am

Houston has the best potential asset package. Sengun is similar to Jokic too which might interest the Nuggets if they don't want to tank. Then I guess Smith or Sheppard would be the second guy in there. Maybe FVV as well if they're absorbing Braun.

Jokic, Braun and Strawther for Sengun, Smith, FVV and picks.

Sengen / Bagley
Smith / Gordon
Johnson / DeRozan
Murray / DeRozan
FVV / Jones

Murray and Sengun are surrounded by shooters. FVV should bring defense that hides Murray. Good balance and they have a lot of picks for an eventual star trade.

clippertown · Post #20 » by **clippertown** » Mon Aug 24, 2026 9:30 pm

Jokic is old school and does not appear to be motivated only by money. He wants to complete. He wants to leave a legacy.

If for some reason he decides to leave Denver, he will likely decline his player option and take a lower max from the next team as a free agent. That way, he can choose his own team and join a mostly complete squad. If Jokic is really on the move, cap space is the only asset that will hold value.

Its highly unlikely Denver will ever voluntarily trade Jokic and it's even more unlikely that Jokic would join (or extend) with a decimated team.